South Africa

Britain expands her interests in South Africa during the mid-19th century.

After capturing the region from the Dutch near the end of the 18th century, the British began to develop their commercial, military, and agricultural interests across South Africa. They established the Cape Colony, which was quickly at odds with the local populations – both indigenous people of color and the descendants of the ‘original’ Dutch settlers, known as Boers.

This map, published in London by Chapman and Hall around 1850, shows the political situation as tensions continued to escalate. Topography is depicted in hachure, and the mountains scattered across the region hide gold – the impetus necessary to justify continued British expansion across the southern portion of the continent in the latter half of the century.

An inset map shows the environs of Cape Town, but the place names are mostly listed in Dutch; emblematic of the several times the area changed hands between the two powers.